dognovel Chapter 540 You reap what you sow.
Chapter 540 You reap what you sow.
Despite Yinzhuo's words that he would visit Yinzhen at the Hall of Mental Cultivation after he finished his work, Yinzhen did not see him there even after dark. It was obvious that the boy had completely forgotten about it.
The saying that being an emperor is no easy task is absolutely true. Although Yinzhen's enthronement ceremony went exceptionally smoothly, it did not mean that there were no disturbances in the court.
As the saying goes, "A new emperor brings a new court." Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, everyone is busy trying to gauge Yinzhen's fortunes. Those in high positions are thinking about how to secure their positions, while those in lower positions are thinking about taking advantage of this opportunity to climb the ranks.
It can be said that from the day he ascended the throne, Yinzhen never had a moment of rest. That guy really wished he had a clone technique or could grow three heads and six arms.
As the saying goes, it's better to share happiness than to enjoy it alone. Based on the principle that if I'm not doing well, no one else can either, Yinzhen really made the most of his brothers. If he wasn't afraid that they would rise up and abandon him, he would have loved to put them on a schedule and work in three shifts.
But what does it matter to us daddy's son if others are busy? He's had a very clear idea of his future since he was a child: rely on his dad for the first half of his life and his brother for the second half. He's determined to be the saltiest salted fish and the most spoiled brat in the capital.
"Sixth Brother, if you're not going to help, can you please stop causing trouble here? Go back to the Qianqing Palace to play with Father, or take some people out of the palace for a stroll. Look at all the things I haven't finished organizing yet. If this continues, Fourth Brother will get really anxious."
As the saying goes, a new broom sweeps clean, and Emperor Yinzhen's first act after taking office was to target the Ministry of Revenue. He ordered all the old, outdated account books in the Ministry to be dug up. In short, he demanded that every single copper coin in the treasury be accounted for.
Yinzhen had been involved in business for many years and was a master at manipulating abacus beads. In addition, he had previously helped Yinzhuo with the Ministry of Revenue's accounts, so this task was naturally handed to him.
It's true that Yinzhen loves money and enjoys dealing with silver, but what he loves is his own family's wealth. Now, the task of taking stock of the Ministry of Revenue's treasury is a typical example of hard work that yields no reward.
Although Yinzhuo didn't want to get involved in this mess, he was the kind of person who would protect his own. Seeing Yintang scratching his head in a panic, looking like he had a lot of trouble, as the older brother, he naturally couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Sigh, Xiao Jiu, how many times have I told you, if you can't lead a team, you'll just have to work yourself to death. It's a pipe dream for you few to sort out all these accounts. Even if you work here until you die without eating or drinking, you can only clear out the tip of the iceberg."
Yinzhuo raised his hand and patted the shoulder of the nearest minor official to him, telling him to get up. Then he pulled out a chair, sat down, and picked up an account book to look at. Good heavens, this is from the 20th year of Kangxi's reign. What was his fourth brother thinking? He took out an account book from over 30 years ago and started looking at it now. Isn't this just being idle?
"Xiao Jiu, stop what you're doing for now. Have someone come and find all the accounts from before the 40th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Then, sort them by year and move them back to the storeroom. We don't need to calculate these for now. For now, start by calculating the accounts from the most recent years in reverse order. As for these old, outdated records, many of them are beyond evidence now. We can deal with them later when we have more time..."
In fact, what Yinzhuo said was not wrong. Take the 20th year of Kangxi's reign to the present, for example. In these decades, the Minister of Revenue has changed several times. If you bring up those old and trivial matters to cause trouble for the current Minister of Revenue, it would be strange if he would accept it.
"Sixth Brother, will this work? Fourth Brother said that all the accounts in the Ministry of Revenue's treasury must be inventoried and reconciled from beginning to end?"
Good grief, I used to think you were pretty smart, but now it seems I really overestimated you. How come you're so inflexible when it really matters?
“Go ahead and do the audit. I didn’t say we wouldn’t audit, but there has to be a sequence to things, right? I’m telling you to audit the accounts from recent years first, and then audit those old, insignificant accounts. What’s wrong with that? Fourth Brother didn’t tell you how to audit them either. Can’t you be a little more flexible?”
Yinzhuo's current feeling towards Yintang can be summed up in one sentence: "Disappointed in his son's lack of ambition." He got up, walked over to Yintang, and slapped him hard on the forehead several times to vent his anger. Then, ignoring Yintang's stunned state after being hit, he strode outside.
When the weather wasn't too cold, Yinzhuo still had the energy to wander around. But after the snow fell outside, Yinzhuo became too lazy to move around anymore. The father and son even moved to Changchun Garden in the suburbs of Beijing to escape the cold.
Although there wasn't much to see at Changchun Garden in winter, it was still more comfortable than living in the palace. This time, apart from Yinzhuo and Liang Jiugong, whom he was used to, Kangxi didn't bring anyone else with him. However, he left quite a few people at Qingxi Study, so there was no shortage of servants.
"Yinzuo, are you ready? I've already had tents set up and stoves lit on the lake. They're just waiting for you. Hurry up and get started..."
Nowadays, Yinzhuo and his son are equally idle. The two of them can't just sit in the house staring at each other all day, and it's too cold outside to go out for a stroll. So Yinzhuo simply had someone drill an ice hole in the lake, set up a tent on it, lit a stove, and dragged his father to go ice fishing.
You know what, the old man really enjoys this activity. This morning, he dragged Yinzhuo to go fishing with him again.
For Yinzhuo, it didn't really matter where he went; it was just another place to stay. The only thing he found hard to overcome was getting up on time every day. But there was nothing he could do; after all, his father was his father. And there's a saying: "You reap what you sow."
Unlike Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yinzuo, who were enjoying their leisurely lives every day, Yinti and Yinzhi, who were in the capital, were already on the verge of going on strike. If it weren't for the fact that they still wanted to give the newly enthroned Emperor Yinzhen some face, they would have wanted to run away as soon as possible.
"If you ask me, Fourth Brother is just grasping at straws in desperation. How could a roughneck like me, who spends all his time in the military, possibly do such delicate work? Come on, Third Brother, you should do more of the work. Such fine craftsmanship is for you cultured people. Eldest Brother, go out and stretch your muscles. I haven't exercised much these days, and my bones are practically rusting."
Yinzhi watched as Yinti shoved a pile of official documents in front of him and ran off. If it weren't for his years of self-cultivation, he would have been ready to curse him out. No, how could someone be so shameless? To hell with the idea that the capable should do more work, you clearly just want me to be your laborer...